2020 European Tour

The 2020 European Tour is the 49th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972 and the 12th edition of the Race to Dubai.

2020 European Tour season

Duration	28 November 2019 – 13 December 2020 (2019-11-28 – 2020-12-13)
Number of official events	54 (17 postponed or cancelled)
← 2019 2021 →

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the season, with many tournaments being rescheduled or cancelled. All four major championships were affected; the Open Championship was cancelled, and the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and PGA Championship were moved to dates much later in the year.

After a three-month hiatus following the Qatar Masters in early March, the tour resumed with a much changed schedule in July. Two dual-ranking events in Austria were followed by six-tournament stretch in the United Kingdom and three tournaments in Spain and Portugal, with the rescheduled major events starting in late September.

On 13 August, it was announced that Alexander Lévy had become the first European Tour player to return a positive test for COVID-19. He and Romain Wattel, who had been in close contact with Lévy, were withdrawn from the field for the Celtic Classic.[1]

Planned changes from previous season

Rule changes

In order to combat slow play, from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship onwards, regulations were introduced whereby a player would receive a one-stroke penalty for two bad times during a tournament.[2]

Scheduling changes

With the addition of golf at the Olympic Games to the schedule in 2020, the Irish Open was moved to May from its previous date in July in order to avoid a clash with the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which had already been moved to avoid the Olympics. The Open de France was then scheduled opposite the WGC Invitational, and the British Masters was scheduled opposite the Olympics.[3]

Tournament changes

• Format change: the Scandinavian Invitation (formerly the Scandinavian Masters) became the Scandinavian Mixed, a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour consisting of a field of 78 men and 78 women.
• No longer part of the schedule: ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, Belgian Knockout

Schedule

In-season changes

Due to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the Honma Hong Kong Open, originally scheduled for 28 November – 1 December 2019 as a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour, was rescheduled for 9–12 January 2020 as an Asian Tour event without European Tour sanctioning.[4][5]

The remainder of the schedule was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• On 14 February, the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and the Volvo China Open were postponed.[6]
• On 6 March, the Magical Kenya Open was postponed.[7]
• On 11 March, the Hero Indian Open was postponed,[8] and the D+D Real Czech Masters was cancelled.[9]
• On 13 March, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was cancelled.[10]
• On 17 March, the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters was postponed.[11]
• On 19 March, the GolfSixes Cascais was cancelled and the Made in Denmark was postponed.[12]
• On 30 March, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was postponed.[13]
• On 6 April, the Trophée Hassan II was postponed and the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed was cancelled.[14] The R&A also announced the cancellation of the Open Championship in 2020, and the seasons other major championships were rescheduled.[15][16]
• On 16 April, the PGA Tour announced the rescheduling of several tournaments, including the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.[17]
• On 17 April, the BMW International Open and Open de France were cancelled, and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open was postponed.[18]
• On 1 May, the Omega European Masters was cancelled.[19]
• On 28 May, the European Tour announced a revamp to the 2020 schedule including a 6-week "UK swing" in July and August, starting with the Betfred British Masters which was brought forward a week, finishing on 25 July. That would be followed by revivals of the English Open and the Wales Open, and three new tournaments: the English Championship, the Celtic Classic, and the UK Championship. In addition to this, four Rolex Series events were given rescheduled dates, with the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship being pushed into October, and the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai being played in December.[20] It was also announced that the Porsche European Open had been cancelled.[21]
• On 15 June, it was announced that both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour would return on 9 July with two consecutive dual-ranking events in Austria: the Austrian Open and the Euram Bank Open.[22]
• On 3 July, it was announced that the Hero Indian Open had been cancelled.[23]
• On 7 July, organisers announced the cancellation of the KLM Open.[24]
• On 8 July, new dates were announced for the postponed Andalucía Masters; the Portugal Masters was also rescheduled, with both tournaments being held during September.[25] Later in the day, it was announced that the 43rd Ryder Cup matches had been postponed until 2021.[26]
• On 10 July, new dates in November were announced for the Kenya Open, originally scheduled for March.[27] The Challenge Tour's Open de Portugal was also added to the schedule as a dual-ranking event; held in September following the Portugal Masters, the addition created a three event "Iberian Swing" starting with the Andalucía Masters.[28]
• On 13 July, the cancellation of the Mutuactivos Open de España was announced after suitable dates could not be found in the revised schedule.[29]
• On 27 July, the cancellation of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was announced, with organisers citing complexities of accommodating the European Tour's COVID-19 safety plan given the event's scale as an international pro-am and its traditional use of three separate venues.[30][31]
• On 14 August, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was rescheduled to 24–27 September with a change of venue to Galgorm Castle in Northern Ireland and a reduced prize fund, which also meant the loss of its status as a Rolex Series event.[32]

As a result of the season being extended into December, the Australian PGA Championship was played twice during the 2020 season.

Official events

The following table lists official events for 2019–20.[33]

Date (R4)	Tournament	Host country	Winner[lower-alpha 1]	OWGR points[lower-alpha 2]	Race to Dubai points	Purse	Other tours[lower-alpha 3]	Notes
1 Dec[lower-alpha 4]	Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	Postponed	–	2,000	$1,500,000	ASA
1 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	South Africa	Pablo Larrazábal (5)	19	2,750	€1,500,000	AFR
8 Dec	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	Rasmus Højgaard (1)	17	2,000	€1,000,000	AFR, ASA
22 Dec	Australian PGA Championship	Australia	Adam Scott (11)	20	2,000	A$1,500,000	ANZ
12 Jan	South African Open[lower-alpha 5]	South Africa	Branden Grace (9)	32	2,000	ZAR17,500,000	AFR
19 Jan	Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship	UAE	Lee Westwood (25)	50	7,000	$7,000,000		Rolex Series event
26 Jan	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	Lucas Herbert (1)	48	4,250	$3,250,000
2 Feb	Saudi International	Saudi Arabia	Graeme McDowell (11)	48	4,250	$3,500,000
9 Feb	ISPS Handa Vic Open	Australia	Min Woo Lee (1)	20	2,000	A$1,600,000	ANZ
23 Feb	WGC-Mexico Championship	Mexico	Patrick Reed (3)	70	9,000	$10,500,000		World Golf Championships
1 Mar	Oman Open	Oman	Sami Välimäki (1)	24	2,750	$1,750,000
8 Mar	Commercial Bank Qatar Masters	Qatar	Jorge Campillo (2)	24	2,750	$1,750,000
22 Mar[lower-alpha 6]	Hero Indian Open	India	Cancelled	–	2,750	$1,750,000	ASA
29 Mar[lower-alpha 7]	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	United States	Cancelled	–	9,000	$10,500,000		World Golf Championships
TBD 19 Apr[lower-alpha 8]	Maybank Championship	Malaysia	Postponed		3,500	$3,000,000	ASA
TBD 26 Apr[lower-alpha 8]	Volvo China Open	China	Postponed		3,500	CNY20,000,000	ASA
TBD 24 May[lower-alpha 8]	Made in Denmark	Denmark	Postponed		4,250	€3,000,000
TBD 7 Jun[lower-alpha 8]	Trophée Hassan II	Morocco	Postponed		3,500	€2,500,000
14 Jun[lower-alpha 7]	Scandinavian Mixed	Sweden	Cancelled	–	2,750	€1,500,000	LET	Field of 78 men and 78 women[lower-alpha 9]
28 Jun[lower-alpha 7]	BMW International Open	Germany	Cancelled	–	2,750	€2,000,000
5 Jul[lower-alpha 7]	Open de France	France	Cancelled	–	2,750	€1,500,000
12 Jul	Austrian Open[lower-alpha 10]	Austria	Marc Warren (4)	18	1,000	€500,000	CHA	Not played since 2018
18 Jul	Euram Bank Open[lower-alpha 10]	Austria	Joël Stalter (1)	18	1,000	€500,000	CHA	New to European Tour
19 Jul[lower-alpha 7]	The Open Championship	England	Cancelled	–	10,000			Major championship
25 Jul 2 Aug[lower-alpha 11]	Betfred British Masters	England	Renato Paratore (2)	24	2,000	€1,250,000
2 Aug	Hero Open[lower-alpha 10]	England	Sam Horsfield (1)	24	2,000	€1,000,000		Not played since 2002
2 Aug 5 Jul[lower-alpha 11]	WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational	United States	Justin Thomas (n/a)	76	9,000	$10,500,000		World Golf Championships
9 Aug	English Championship[lower-alpha 10]	England	Andy Sullivan (4)	24	2,000	€1,000,000		New tournament
9 Aug 17 May[lower-alpha 11]	PGA Championship	United States	Collin Morikawa (1)	100	10,000	$11,000,000		Major championship
16 Aug	Celtic Classic[lower-alpha 10]	Wales		24	2,000	€1,000,000		New tournament
23 Aug	ISPS Handa Wales Open[lower-alpha 10]	Wales			2,000	€1,000,000		Not played since 2014
23 Aug[lower-alpha 7]	D+D Real Czech Masters	Czech Republic	Cancelled	–	2,000	€1,000,000
30 Aug	ISPS Handa UK Championship[lower-alpha 10]	England			2,000	€1,000,000		New tournament
30 Aug[lower-alpha 7]	Omega European Masters	Switzerland	Cancelled	–	3,500	€2,500,000
6 Sep 3 May[lower-alpha 11]	Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters	Spain
6 Sep[lower-alpha 7]	Porsche European Open	Germany	Cancelled	–	2,750	€2,000,000
13 Sep 25 Oct[lower-alpha 11]	Portugal Masters	Portugal			2,000	€1,000,000
20 Sep 21 Jun[lower-alpha 11]	U.S. Open	United States		100	10,000	$12,500,000		Major championship
20 Sep[lower-alpha 7]	KLM Open	Netherlands	Cancelled	–	2,750	€2,000,000
20 Sep	Open de Portugal[lower-alpha 10]	Portugal			1,000	€500,000	CHA	Last played on the European Tour in 2017
27 Sep 31 May[lower-alpha 11]	Dubai Duty Free Irish Open	Northern Ireland				$1,250,000
4 Oct[lower-alpha 7]	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	Scotland	Cancelled	–		$5,000,000
11 Oct 12 Jul[lower-alpha 11]	Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open	Scotland						Rolex Series event
TBD 11 Oct[lower-alpha 12]	Italian Open	Italy	Pending		7,000	$7,000,000		Rolex Series event
18 Oct 13 Sep[lower-alpha 11]	BMW PGA Championship	England		64				Flagship event; Rolex Series event
18 Oct[lower-alpha 7]	Mutuactivos Open de España	Spain	Cancelled	–
1 Nov	WGC-HSBC Champions	China			9,000	$10,500,000		World Golf Championships
8 Nov	Turkish Airlines Open	Turkey			9,000	$7,000,000		Rolex Series event
15 Nov 12 Apr[lower-alpha 11]	Masters Tournament	United States		100	10,000	$11,500,000		Major championship
15 Nov 15 Mar[lower-alpha 11]	Magical Kenya Open	Kenya			2,000	€1,000,000
6 Dec 15 Nov[lower-alpha 11]	Nedbank Golf Challenge	South Africa					AFR	Rolex Series event
6 Dec	Australian PGA Championship	Australia			2,000	A$1,600,00	ANZ
13 Dec 22 Nov[lower-alpha 11]	DP World Tour Championship, Dubai	UAE						Tour Championship; Rolex Series event

1. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names show the number of official career wins they had on the European Tour up to and including that event. Totals are only shown for members of the European Tour and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
2. Except for the major championships, which have fixed points allocations, points listed for tournaments that have not been completed are official projections based on the expected field and/or minimum points allocations. Final allocations are usually published the day after completion of all tournaments eligible for ranking points that week.[34]
3. Several tournaments are hosted under co-sanctioning agreements with other tours: ASA – Asian Tour; ANZ – PGA Tour of Australasia; AFR – Sunshine Tour; CHA – Challenge Tour (dual-ranking); LET – Ladies European Tour
4. Postponed due to protest violence;[4] rescheduled to January 2020 without European Tour co-sanctioning.[5]
5. Sunshine Tour flagship event
6. Initially postponed and then later cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
7. Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
8. Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
9. Ranking points based on finish among men's field only.
10. Tournament added to the schedule as part of changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
11. Rescheduled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
12. Removed from schedule due to COVID-19 pandemic, pending a possibile rescheduling.[35]

Unofficial events

The following events appear on the schedule, but do not carry official money.

Date	Tournament	Host country	Winner	OWGR points	Notes
10 May	GolfSixes Cascais	Portugal	Cancelled	n/a	Sixteen 2-man teams Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Aug 2	Olympic men's golf competition	Japan	Postponed	–	60-player field Postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic
27 Sep	Ryder Cup	United States	Postponed	n/a	Two 12-man teams Postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic

Location of tournaments

The tournament locations below represent the original schedule, before any changes due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Location of official tournaments of the 2020 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Rolex Series event Regular event

Location of official tournaments of the 2020 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Rolex Series event Regular event South Africa United Arab Emirates

Race to Dubai points leaders

Current Race to Dubai standings of top 10 players (through PGA Championship):

Pos.	Player		Majors				World Golf Ch.				Rolex Series							Top 10s in other ET events					Total pts		Tmts		Money
			PGA	USO	Mas	Opn	Mex	MP	Inv	Cha	Abu	Sco	PGA	Ita	Tur	Ned	Dub	1	2	3	4	5					Regular (€)	Bonus ($)
1	Collin Morikawa		1st 1,665			C A N C E L L E D	T42 53	C A N C E L L E D	T20 103		•												1,821		3
2	Patrick Reed		T13 151				1st 1500		T47 48		•												1,698		4
3	Lee Westwood		•				T22 99		•		1st 1165												1,300		6
4	Paul Casey		T2 870				11 165		T67 20		•												1,055		3
5	Louis Oosthuizen		T33 79				T51 41		T6 226		5th 297							2nd 222					910		6
6	Lucas Herbert		CUT 0				T58 30		T49 43		T67 16							1st 710					873		8
7	Tommy Fleetwood		T29 89				T18 110		T35 63		T2 523												854		5
8	Matthew Fitzpatrick		CUT 0				T37 63		T6 226		T2 523												835		5
9	Rasmus Højgaard		•				•		•		CUT 0							1st 335	2nd 222	T6 56	3rd 125		828		11
10	Tom Lewis		CUT 0				•		T2 599		CUT 0							T3 219					818		5

UK Swing Order of Merit

With the return of the European Tour after the COVID-19 hiatus and as part of the new Golf for Good initiative – which underpinned all events for the remainder of the 2020 season – a mini Order of Merit ran for all six events in the "UK Swing", with the top ten players sharing an additional £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice.[36] The top ten, not otherwise exempt, from the standings of the UK Swing Order of Merit after the first five events received entry into the 2020 U.S. Open.[37]

Current UK Swing Order of Merit standings (through the English Championship):[36]

Place	Player	Event						Total pts	Tmts	Donation (£)
		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Andy Sullivan	T4 85	T41 12	1st 335				432	3
2	Rasmus Højgaard	2nd 222	T6 56	3rd 125	•			403	3
3	Sam Horsfield	T10 36	1st 335	CUT 0				371	3
4	Renato Paratore	1st 335	T28 18	T34 14	CUT 0			367	4
5	Adrián Otaegui	T35 15	CUT 0	2nd 222				237	3
6	Thomas Detry	CUT 0	2nd 222	T56 7				229	3
7	Justin Harding	3rd 125	CUT 0	T53 8				133	3
8	Chris Paisley	CUT 0	T3 103	T19 23	CUT 0			126	4
9	Alexander Björk	T47 10	T3 103	•				113	2
10	Robert Rock	T4 85	T15 26	•	•			111	2

1 = Betfred British Masters;
2 = Hero Open;
3 = English Championship;
4 = Celtic Classic;
5 = ISPS Handa Wales Open;
6 = ISPS Handa UK Championship

See also

• 2019 in golf
• 2020 in golf
• 2020 Challenge Tour
• 2020 European Senior Tour
• 2020 Ladies European Tour
• 2019–20 PGA Tour

References

1. "Coronavirus: Alex Levy becomes first European Tour golfer to test positive". Sky Sports. PA Media. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
2. Lavner, Ryan (22 January 2020). "Here's early evidence the Euro Tour's new pace-of-play policy works". Golf Channel. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
3. Heath, Elliott (2 October 2019). "2020 European Tour Schedule Revealed". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
4. "Statement on the Hong Kong Open". PGA European Tour. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
5. "Hong Kong Open rescheduled for January 2020". ESPN. 6 December 2019.
6. "Statement on the Maybank Championship and Volvo China Open". PGA European Tour. 14 February 2020.
7. Gray, Will (6 March 2020). "European Tour cancels Kenya Open over coronavirus". Golf Channel. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
8. "Joint Statement on the Hero Indian Open". European Tour. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
9. ČTK (11 March 2020). "Golfové Czech Masters se letos neuskuteční. Pořadatelé akci s velkým předstihem odvolali" [Golf Czech Masters will not take place this year. The organizers cancelled the event long in advance]. iRozhlas.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 11 March 2020.
10. Harig, Bob (13 March 2020). "PGA Tour cancels Players Championship after first round". ESPN. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
11. Gray, Will (17 March 2020). "European Tour postpones Andalucia Masters over COVID-19 concerns". Golf Channel. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
12. "European Tour cancels GolfSixes, postpones Made in Denmark". Golf Channel. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
13. "Irish Open: Mount Juliet European Tour event postponed because of coronavirus". BBC Sport. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
14. Stafford, Ali (6 April 2020). "Coronavirus: European Tour cancels inaugural Scandinavian Mixed". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
15. "The Open cancelled; Masters, US Open & US PGA Championship rescheduled". BBC Sport. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
16. Jackson, Keith (6 April 2020). "The 149th Open cancelled for this year and will return to Sandwich in 2021". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
17. "PGA Tour announces schedule adjustments for remainder of 2019-20 FedExCup season, releases fall portion of 2020-21 PGA Tour Regular Season schedule". PGA Tour. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
18. "A message from European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley". European Tour. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
19. "European Tour: Omega European Masters cancelled". Sky Sports. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
20. "European Tour announces resumption of 2020 season". European Tour. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
21. "Porsche European Open cancellation". European Tour. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
22. "European Tour and Challenge Tour to resume in Austria". European Tour. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
23. "Hero Indian Open 2020 cancelled". Asian Tour. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
24. "KLM Open 2020 afgelast" (in Dutch). KLM Open. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
25. "European Tour announces continuation of 2020 season in Spain And Portugal". European Tour. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
26. Porter, Kyle (8 July 2020). "Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits postponed to 2021, Presidents Cup to 2022 amid coronavirus pandemic". CBS Sports. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
27. "Magical Kenya Open to be held in November". European Tour. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
28. "Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos completes three-event Iberian Swing". European Tour. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
29. "Cancelado el Mutuactivos Open de España de 2020". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 13 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
30. Stafford, Ali (27 July 2020). "Alfred Dunhill Links Championship cancelled due to coronavirus". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
31. "Alfred Dunhill Links Championship called off by organisers". BBC Sport. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
32. Heath, Elliott (14 August 2020). "Irish Open To Take Place At Galgorm Castle In Ryder Cup Spot". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
33. "The 2020 European Tour schedule". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
34. "Events | European Tour | 2020". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
35. Legramandi, Sauro (24 July 2020). "Open d'Italia 2020 di golf, eppur qualcosa si muove" [2020 Italian Open of golf, yet something moves]. TgCom24. Mediaset. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
36. "UK Swing Order of Merit". European Tour. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
37. "US Open exemptions available through UK Swing on European Tour". Irish Golf Desk. Retrieved 29 July 2020.

External links

• Official site